Lieutenant Williams Guy Snell is listed in the Absent Voters’ List of 1919 as living at Wickhamford. He is thought to have moved to the village shortly after his marriage in London in September 1915 to Hilda Walker, as his name appears in The Evesham Journal the following year.
Williams Guy Snell (1887-1928) was born in Kent and lived in London in his early years. His first name was Williams, but some records refer to it as William. He was in Hovingsham, N. Yorkshire for the 1911 census as a farm pupil. He enlisted in the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment in 1914. At the time of his marriage, he was described as being based at the School of Instruction, St Nicholas Street, Weymouth.
Williams’ medal card reveals that he arrived in Salonika on 7th May 1916, which was his first service overseas. The medal card also reveals that, in addition to the Victory and British Medal, he was eligible for the Silver War Badge. The Absent Voters’ list for 1919 lists him as at the Eastern Company Depot, Shoreham-by-sea.
He served until 1921 and returned to Wickhamford as a market gardener, dying in Broadway on 6th May 1928. Probate records gave his address as ‘The Driffold’, at the Murcot turn on Pitchers Hill. The Cheltenham Chronicle of 12th May 1928 gave a short account of his death due to a weak heart attributed to excessive smoking and the effects of his war service in Salonika. As an officer, he would have had to apply for his medals, but it appears that it was not until eight days after his death that his widow made an application. The medals were sent to her at an address in London: 8 Lyndale Avenue, Finchley Road.
Williams’ ‘Representative’ is mentioned in the Auction of the Wickhamford Estate in September 1930 with regard to two plots of land at Whitfurrows and one cottage on Pitchers Hill (now no 73 or 75).